The ice cap tied for the sixth lowest extent on record, continuing a long-term decline.
Published Sep 28, 2018Image of the Day Water Snow and Ice Remote Sensing Sea and Lake Ice
Slight recoveries in the extent of sea ice at both poles were not enough to return to long-term normal levels.
Published Mar 24, 2020Image of the Day Water Snow and Ice Remote Sensing Sea and Lake Ice
The amount of Arctic Ocean covered by ice was significantly more than the record low of 2012, but still well below the long-term average.
Published Sep 21, 2013
These images show Arctic sea ice extent for the September 2009 summer minimum and the March 2010 winter maximum. Ice extents were greater than they had been in many recent years, but were still below the long-term average.
Published Apr 23, 2010
On August 26, 2012, Arctic sea ice broke all previous records weeks ahead of the end of melt season.
Published Aug 28, 2012
The extent of Arctic sea ice peaked at 15.24 million square kilometers on March 18, 2012. It was the ninth consecutive year of maximum extents below the long-term average.
Published Mar 27, 2012
Ice cover in the Sea of Okhotsk and Barents Sea are below normal, while other areas are closer to the average. But the overall trend of shrinking sea ice continues.
Published Apr 10, 2014
This animation shows Arctic sea ice shrinking to a near record minimum in the summer of 2011.
Published Sep 22, 2011
In 2017, the Arctic maximum and Antarctic minimum extents of sea ice plunged to record lows.
Published Mar 23, 2017
The sea ice cap atop the Arctic Ocean reached its annual maximum extent on February 25, 2015. It was the smallest maximum extent in the satellite record and one of the earliest.
Published Mar 21, 2015
The minimum sea ice extent in 2015 appears to be the fourth lowest in the satellite record.
Published Sep 16, 2015
The long-term trend for Arctic sea ice extent has been definitively downward.
Published Sep 23, 2019Image of the Day Heat Water Snow and Ice Remote Sensing Sea and Lake Ice
Sea ice extent for January 2016 was one of the lowest on record since space-based observations began in 1978.
Published Feb 18, 2016
The Arctic sea ice extent continues its long-term downward trend.
Published Sep 22, 2020Image of the Day Heat Land Water Snow and Ice Remote Sensing Sea and Lake Ice
Since satellites began monitoring sea ice in 1979, researchers have observed a decline in the average extent of Arctic sea ice in every month of the year.
Published Sep 16, 2016
Satellite measurements recorded the 5th lowest Arctic sea ice maximum extent on record. The top ten smallest maxima have all occurred in the past ten years.
Published Apr 4, 2013
